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Malignant brain tumors represent approximately 1.5% of all malignant tumors. The survival rate among patients is relatively low and the mortality rate of pediatric brain tumors ranks first among all childhood malignant tumors. At present malignant brain tumors remain incurable. Although some tumors can be treated with surgery and chemotherapy, new treatment strategies are urgent owing to the poor clinical prognosis. Iron is an essential trace element in many biological processes of the human body. Iron transporters play a crucial role in iron absorption and transport. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of nonapoptotic cell death, is characterized by the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products and lethal reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from iron metabolism. Recently, compelling evidence has shown that inducing ferroptosis of tumor cells is a potential therapeutic strategy. In this review, we will briefly describe the significant regulatory factors of ferroptosis, iron, its absorption and transport under physiological conditions, especially the function of iron transporters. Then we will summarize the relevant mechanisms of ferroptosis and its role in malignant brain tumors, wherein the role of transporters is not to be ignored. Finally, we will introduce the current research progress in the treatment of malignant brain tumors by inducing ferroptosis in order to explain the current biological principles of potential treatment targets and treatment strategies for malignant brain tumors.

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It is a great discovery in physics of the twentieth century that the elementary particles in Nature are dictated by gauge forces, characterized by a nonintegrable phase factor \cite{Yang1974} that an elementary particle of charge $q$ acquires from A to B points: \begin{equation} P \exp \left( i \frac q {\hbar c}\int_A^B A_{\mu}dx^{\mu}\right) \label{nonit} \end{equation} where $A_{\mu}$ is the gauge potential and $P$ stands for path ordering. In a many-body system of strongly correlated electrons, if the so-called Mott gap is opened up by interaction, the corresponding Hilbert space will be fundamentally changed. A novel nonintegrable phase factor known as phase-string will appear and replace the conventional Fermi statistics to dictate the low-lying physics. Protected by the Mott gap, which is clearly identified in the high-$T_c$ cuprate with a magnitude $> 1.5 \ \mathrm{eV}$, such a singular phase factor can enforce a fractionalization of the electrons, leading to a dual world of exotic elementary particles with a topological gauge structure. A non-Fermi-liquid "parent" state will emerge, in which the gapless Landau quasiparticle is only partially robust around the so-called Fermi arc regions, while the main dynamics are dominated by two types of gapped spinons. Antiferromagnetism, superconductivity, and a Fermi liquid with full Fermi surface can be regarded as the low-temperature instabilities of this new parent state. Both numerics and experiments provide direct evidence for such an emergent physics of the Mottness, which lies in the core of a high-$T_c$ superconducting mechanism.

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